SNAP: Cutting What Works

The House of Representatives' new budget--labeled the Ryan budget--for Fiscal Year 2013 would fundamentally change SNAP by converting it into a "block grant" program and cut its funding by $133.5 billion--more than 17 percent--over the next 10 years (2013-2022). A block grant would allow states to cap eligibility, create waiting lists, and/or sharply reduce or end benefits for millions of children and families still struggling to recover from the recession. It threatens the program's ability to respond when the American people need help most.

At the exact same time the House was making these decisions, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office released a new report predicting the need for food stamps would keep growing through 2014 as American families continue to recover from the recession. The impact of more cuts on children and families who now receive a nutritionally adequate diet from SNAP would be devastating. Where is the justice in a vote to protect wealthy farmers over hungry children? Tell your Members of Congress that SNAP needs to be preserved as a lifeline for hungry Americans in hard times. There should be no hungry people--especially children--in rich America.

Marian Wright Edelman is president of the Children's Defense Fund. For more information go to www.childrensdefense.org.